Self-Defense For Girls Club offers students lessons to learn quick techniques to protect themselves from dangerous situations and strives to lower the rates of sexual violence.
Upon first glance, many may think that learning self-defense can be dangerous; however, the techniques taught are meant to defend oneself rather than engage in a fight.
“I originally thought it was going to be [dangerous], but it’s not that aggressive. [Students] learn quick movements to disengage from someone instead of fighting techniques,” Julia Smith, a counselor at Carlmont and the club advisor, said.
The skills taught are also meant to be basic and easy to learn, in order to ensure people are able to remember and utilize them if confronted with a dangerous situation.
“I know many other club members don’t have prior knowledge of material arts, so we focus on very basic techniques that are also effective,” Chloe Chun, one of the club’s vice presidents, said.
Many skills club members learn include locating people’s weak points and strategies to escape wrist grabbing and hair-pulling.
“We taught [the members] the weak points of the body that they could target. For example, they could kick people behind the knee, which is a really weak point of the body,” Chun said.
According to Smith, learning self-defense techniques allows one to feel secure, knowing that the skills they learn will assist in protecting them from harm.
“It’s an empowering feeling to go out into the world and not be nervous, knowing that I have some skills to defend myself from a scary situation,” Smith said.
Sexual Violence 2000-2019 by Karla Lee
According to RAINN, for every 68 seconds that passes, an American will have been sexually assaulted, meaning every year 460,000 Americans become victims of rape and sexual assault.
Chun encourages students to learn self-defense to protect themselves from harm.
“I feel like everyone should know basic self-defense techniques because as we grow older, the world is going to be a more dangerous place. We’re not going to have people protecting us all the time,” Chun said.
Although the club’s name is Self-Defense For Girls Club, the club is open to anyone who wants to learn how to defend themselves no matter their age or gender.
“Another reason for why I agreed to be their advisor was because I wanted to learn self-defense. Honestly, any grade level, any age, and any gender can benefit from learning self-defense,” Smith said.
Along with learning techniques, club members have an opportunity to make friends and get involved with school activities.
“I already take self-defense classes, but it’s fun to do it with friends and meet new people. The club isn’t hard to join, and it only takes up a few days a month. It’s very informative, and the exercises we do aren’t hard,” Juliana Wong, a sophomore and club member, said.
